Movie pirate gets seven years

Los Angeles man, Johnny Ray Gasca, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for using a video camcorder in a movie theatre.

Gasca was arrested in September, 2002 when he was found carrying an expensive recording equipment in a large leather bag during the private screening of "The Core". After the arrest, he fled the custody for 15 months.

U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson found Gasca guilty of three misdemeanor counts of copyright infrinhement.

Seriously guys, the fact that this guy fled the authorities for over a year is why he got 7 years, had he not he probably would have gotten a large fine. He was just supid. Plus the fact that they are misdemeanores means he will probably be out by this time next year, with good behavior and what not.

still indicative of how the law treats people to try to steal from the rich. that other dude is correct, some murderers get shorter sentances than this poor goon. and it dont take exensive equipment to cam a movie anymore, all it takes is a cellphone with a gig of memory.

This ids how it will play out for him
Cell mate: what you in for?
Johnny: you know copyright infringement
Mate: How long you get for that?
Johnny: 7 f**king years
Mate: 7 years aint so bad Hammer in cell 187 and Butch in cell 5150 got 15 years each for that counterfieting sh*t
Johnny: not counterfieting, copyright infringement!
Mate: what the hell is that?
Johnny: I brought a camcorder in to a movie theater to record "The Core"
Mate: Thats against the law?
Johnny: Im here aint I?..........How long you for?
Mate: 6 years....
Johnny: wow thats not so bad what did you do?
Mate: I started a meth lab 500ft from a elementry school and after it blew up the stupid fire inspector found all my child porn and that I never registered as a child sex offender....I beat the petafile charge

Seems a bit harsh 7 years , no wonder the prisons are over crowded with nickel and dimers , when the serious criminals leave early because of the crowding of small time criminals. 6 months to a year is more inline here , come on now - 7 years for that! can I get my money back if a movie sucks ? nope ! anyway these camcorder copies are real bad ' not like we are talking rental store quality.

not only was he getting movies for free, now he gets free food, clothing, healthcare, and sexual partners for the next seven years. doesn't sound like much punishment to me :-P well, at least not effective.
i feel the same burst of emotion others do. i hate a system where punishment is issued based on fiscal severity of a crime and not actual harm, physical or otherwise, to another person.

rather, i feel i hit certain nails squarely on the head :-P
you honestly think this guy deserves more time behind bars? please, i'm begging you,justify that relative to the lesser punishments dished out for more severe crimes.

well ben frankin participated in satanic rituals in great britian and was a mason. and the rest were all rich puritans, pilgrims, or planters all of which believed they were predestined to be the chosen people and everyone else was sinners.

this is out of hand this is his "crime"
Trying to tape a moive at a theater
Hiding from police
witch normal would ad up to less than a year and 2 or 3 of parole
if he fought cops any I could see 1-2 years,but this?
this is the the society we are setting ourselfs up to live in where the black boots have the power of judge jury,police and clergy think jugde dread only they dont talk just shoot.

OMFG!!!!!!!! First, i never knew that it's less than 7 years for murder. I think it should be for LIFE. I mean you took away someone's life. Second, 7years for this!!!!!!! for a movie? he wansn't even selling them. He might have keeped it for his own copy. he paid like $9 bucks for the movie. I think this is the most Bullsh#t thing i heard in a long ass time. He should do like couple hours of community serivce. the point is that more people are put in jail for something stupid, when people are raping,stealing,killing.. ect. they are the one who should be in jail. The thing that pisses me off the most is that Americans just read this or hear this and say "sucks for him" or "7 years for movie" when we should be out there protesting!!!!! You all should be ashmed of yourself. That man doesn't deserve 7years of his LIFE for something like that and WE KNOW IT. He can't do anything because he's in JAIL. so how about we help innocent guy out for once. If the U.S. Distric Court was in my area. I would be protesting. Isn't america blessed for helping others? "American comes for help" now it's more like ahhhh it's american's RUN. He's doesn't deserve this.

Everyone says 7 years is so harsh in which i could agree, but keep in mind the guy fled authorities for a year and 3 months! Plus there may be other things in consideration that was not mentioned here.

This is an absolute shame. For those of you making fun of this fella, you better never download a movie again. This was a frontline soldier who got taken down. 7 years? That is a bit excessive. They are most likely trying to scare others but they will never stop privacy.
The hell I am going to pay 10 dollars or more to see a piece of crap! I'd like to preview it and then determine if I want it. If the MPAA was smart, they would take their rescources and put it into pushing the internet technology instead of trying to stop it. Bunch of morons.

zippydsm says it all! boycott sony. i know many here love sony products, but voting with our wallets is one of our best weapons. better yet, if taping a movie is such a serious offense, maybe they should stop making movies. the bottom line is .........these companies have spent far more monet fighting this war than what they can ever hope to recover in the future.
i'd love to see the list of the jury panel. does the mpaa/riaa truly not see wjere the problem lies? lannigan! loved your response also.

gwazi
Meh buying used can almost double your spending money so tis always worth it to look into it there a few things now and then I try to buy new but the last game I bought new Quake 4 was such a let down I have doubled my effrts not to buy new 0-o
Boishock has garbed me I might be willing to get a 360 over it...mmmmm

3 misdemeanors?....a parking ticket, a barking dog, jaywalking are misdemeanors and at most would be $100.00 fine. False imprisonment is a felony with up to a 20 year sentence but only congress can remove a federal judge and we all know how has bought the congress.

Just shows the power that the movie studios have . here in Sacramento, we had a policeman driving drunk, hit and killed a 13 year old kid crossing the street after getting off a school bus. The cop then fled the scene, trying to get away from the witnesses who were chasing him. The citizens cornered him in a yard and held him for his police buddies.
Long story short. The drunk cop was never held in jail, he was on paid administrative leave for most of the time it took twice as long as normal to bring the case to trial. The hit and run charges were dropped, vehicular manslaughter charges were dropped. He was sentenced to 4 years in prison and he can get out in six months for good behavior.
Besides the cops smoothing things over for one of their own, this tells me that just carrying recording equipment into a theatre and not showing up for the trial is a worse crime that a drunk cop running down and killing a kid.
I remember Winnona Ryder, one of the entertainment darlings, getting caught on three different occasions stealing over $5,000.00 worth of jewelery each time and only getting public service as a punishment. Let's see, three felonies for an entertainer equals public service. Cops can drink and drive, killing whomever and get a slap on the wrist, but if you even look like you are going to do something the MIAA doesn't like, the whole weight of the judicial system will fall on you.
Isn't justice grand.....?????

I say that the law needs to be changed and if ou are only using it for your own viewing then that would be fine. if you are selling copies ok so that is not right but lets get the punishment in asensible range like public service or probation not jail for sure. that is being a dictor ship.

The movie industry is run by the all mighty $$$ and heaven forbid if you should meddle with their potential profit. Let's face it - you do not know if you will enjoy a movie until you have payed to see it! Do you get a refund if it was crap? You can't always tell by the trailers as they can be very deceiving. I am tired of reading how the Motion picture and Music Industries are hard done by. They had no problems screwing their own clients in the early days. Do you see them trying to make amends.
Now there is a whole industry around re-runs and that also includes commercials. We have the power to send a message to them and let them know that they are not in charge as they think they are. I am sure everyone has enough material to keep themselves entertained without supplying the Industry with their Fix.
Can you imagine if all retailers/rental outlets/theatres etc were bouycotted for 1 to 2 weeks or longer what the impact would be on their profit line. Bush got the message may be they will!

The studios also collect taxes that are levied on all recordable media. There is also a tax on CD and DVD writers for the same purpose. The government collects and pays the music and movie studios their cut of the booty.
The studios now want to tax all MP3 players and cell phones because video and music can be stored on many of these items.
When I was working in Hollywood, I learned that the most important reason for going to digital HDTV and radio was the amount of control it would give the studios over protecting the broadcast from being copied. There was even talk of devising ways to plant viruses in the digital stream so that if the data was to be transfered to a computer, the virus would infect the computer. Before you laugh, Sony tried something closed to what I heard discussed. Analogue video and audio is harder to protect than digital data. If a digital protection is hacked, the protection scheme can be changed on the fly during broadcast of the data. The quality of the music or the video was secondary to product control in every conversation that I heard....
I wonder how long it will be before the studios get the government to collect a tax on the general population to pay for those who do not buy their music or go to their movies ???? I wouldn't put it past them.....

dufas
0_o
Ok so there is a tax already in place for recordeable stuff?
could you link me?
to me tis simple add acoule things to the "tax" and tell the media mafia to lay off the people in a simple well written law to go with the tax to prevent corperate abuse of the consumer..

In the UK there is a yearly Tax (okay they call it a license fee) on every house that has a TV. It doesn't matter whether you have cable, Sat or antenna. It doesn't even matter if you are a student in a dorm you have to pay the yearly license. This is in theroy to pay for BBC-1& 2 that are run by the state. Sort of like forcing everyone here to support PBC just because you own a TV. Whether any of this goes to the Movie/Radio industry I don't know.

jlg234
at least the DMCA sees root kits as bad and says you can kill them...but still a long way to go before we get full fair use back...if the media mafia wants to double dip let them but thru regulation so theres a bigger brother making sure no bullying is going on...

There's this loud obnoxious PR[race] guy at work who sticks his nose in everyone's business and rats you out. He used to sell pirated dvds on the work floor. After he heard that he might be ratted on he started selling out of his car in the parking lot. He's made trouble for me twice by not minding his own business when I had a confrontation with someone at work. One is the vending machine jerkoff. Rightly so. This PR guy has been there 12 years. He should be turned in and serve 12 years in the fed pen. Agreed?

It just goes to show that justice is there for those that can afford it! Celebrities of all kinds (Movie Stars, football players etc...) can do pretty much anything and then buy their way out...even if you are totally guilty like OJ Simpson you can use large amounts of cash to confuse evidence and play the system.
I can't feel sorry for the movie indusrty because they already make so much money. I'm not saying that what this guy did wasn't wrong...it was wrong. But the punishment should fit the crime. Seven years for filming a movie! Jesus...it's not as if he was armed and threatened the theatre owner. It's a mad world.

wazzat
there are acouple things you need to think out first will removing him and it being known that you were the one that removed him make your life better?
If at least 1 of these are yes then moving on to 2,will anyone give a damn?
this being the crime it is theres a 50/50 chance it will be ignored in the long run be ready for more shit from him and his if you are willing to stick your head out and get this guy removed you might be able to claim harassment on his ass if he dose but meh....only screw with it if you feel youmust...I know dealing with people can be fun...but....monkeys throw poo be ready to get dirty ;_;

The feds have been making a point on all types of crimes since Bush got into office. Look at what they did to Tommy Chong he got a year and a day in Federal Prison for having a web site with his name on it. All he did was sold Bongs no dope but they wanted to make a point. He lived in California and the Pittsburgh Federal court went after him and won. They got me for violating an agreement with a past employer that I signed a no compete contest and tried to get a job with another high tech compeditor and they took 5 years to charge me and I got 6 months in a club fed. So anything you do on the internet is being looked at very closely so be careful they can come and get you from any state and will.

duke8888..........I know this is off topicbut it is somewhat related..
Three years ago, I was sued by an ex-employer for quiting work for him. My contract was up which he never fulfilled anyway. He couldn't sue using the no competition clause because my new employer [whom also was named in the suit for hiring me] was engaged in another field. What was astounding was the court and the judge. My ex-employer sued claiming that the reason I left was to make more money. The idiot judge said that was reason enough to bring the case to court. I guess this means that anytime someone seeks a better position, they are liable for damages.....
Anyway, my ex-employer bit off more than he could chew. My new employer, when receiving the court summons became very angry and being a person of wealth and some influence, ran my ex-employer through legal hell to the point that my ex-employer lost his business, his home, and most of his personal money.
After the dust settled, it was found out that the judge was a friend of my ex-employer and the only reason the judge let the case go forward was their hope that I would be let go from my new position and would possibly go back to work at my old job.
The point is that the justice system is not a justice system, it is a tool for those that knows how to use it for their own gain. The MPAA and the RIAA are doing just that...

dufas
Mmmmm..mmmm there are acouple starwars fightters I want alot of transformers I want (prime anivery sure tis 100...but at elast it has the trailer *death eyes the new trailerless reelase* old beast wars and only a few beast war and 80's style "repaints" )and I miss contrux's, legos suxs,erector meh...ke'nix blah
sorry....mind wondered there for a moment >>

well why are we all so surprised, america preaches democracy to the world and starts wars in name of democracy,killing thousands of innocent people every year,while their backyard is full of dictatorship, i wonder who is worse saddam who was backed by the usa or george bush,i think they r one of a kind,bastard brothers in arm to make the innocent pay in blood for the sake of their own richess, ( the all mighty dollar) they will always kill and fight you for it , there is no democray

hey Sontiago there should be more women teacher having sex with 13 yr olds. wtf?? where were all these women when i was in grade school? anyway, sucks to be this dude, and he was caught recording the core...ha ha ha ha sucker!

SayYes
You just went to the wrong school...We had two female teachers and one had a 15 year old daughter that joined in.
I'm an old fart, so this happened around 50 years ago when women, short of killing or robbing would be protected and could do no wrong...Women got away with a lot of things back then..

[quote=ZIppyDSM]if the media mafia wants to double dip let them but thru regulation so theres a bigger brother making sure no bullying is going on...

What you're talking about is giving media control thru the government, which IMO would be very bad. Yes, there does need to be legislation, but not in what measures they CAN take to prevent piracy, but in what they CAN NOT do. DMCA is one of the worst things that ever happened to this country and it's given these industries more of a power trip than ever, any further legislation would just make the situation worse unless it was turned to limiting THEIR actions, not ours.

magus7091
not quit ,like in the 80s when corperations were running amok the goverment setped in and sorted the mess out,what I want the goverment to do is create a tax a regulation making all downloading for personal and archival use to be free and legal,thos that make money off downloaded stuff that dont have the IP/CP contracts the media mafia can go after all they want but for the 85-90% of us that don't use it for personal wealth the media mafia needs to step off.
the trick of regulation is in the balanceing to have a 1% tax on the net/new computers/digital devices/black media(includeing flash drives) should create enough profit to pay for the regulation bit and give the poor poor media mafia and their brethren their pittance.
with this in place all downloading for any thing will be free and legal BTW if you cant tell if tis legal the media mafia cant sue you unless your a pirating ring.
its a shame it will never happen tho the media mafia has their .45 firmly placed up the governments rear....

-ADDING TO PREVIOUS POST-
Too much power and room for possible interpretation to turn it into yet another way to monitor what we do with our own things. Any such law would have to be VERY carefully worded so as to not be open to ANY interpretation at all.

Originally posted by magus7091:Ok, sorry if I misunderstood what you meant, but I'm afraid of any legislation allowing for a certain amount of it would give both the companies and the government too much power.

funny they already have all the power,and the media mafia can sue at the drop of the hat,and theirs already a tax on blank media so meh

Copyright infringement is nothing more than civil disobedience to a bad set of laws. Lets renegotiate them.